1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a PCMCIA card type recording apparatus, and more particularly, to a recording apparatus to transmit and receive data through a PCMCIA port and to allow replacement of a disk cartridge on which the data is recorded.
2. Description of the Related Art
A recording apparatus to record and reproduce data on and from a disk type recording medium has been developed in various ways. Examples of such recording apparatuses include a floppy disk drive (FDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), and the like. The FDD records and reproduces, magnetically, data on and from a magnetic disk held in a case. The HDD rotates a hard disk mounted in a case at a high speed to magnetically record and reproduce the data.
Compared with the FDD, the HDD has a superior performance in view of a data transmission speed and a memory capacity, and is used as a main memory unit of a computer. However, unlike the FDD, which is easily carried and mounted in computers, the HDD has shortcomings in that it occupies a large volume, and lacks portability. Due to this, most computers have both the HDD and FDD.
In addition to the portable laptop computer, other compact and portable machines such as a camcorder, a digital camera, a game machine, a personal data assistant, and the like have been developed and come into wide use. Accordingly, there has been a growing demand for a recording apparatus to be used in the above-described machines to record and reproduce the data, and which is compact.
However, since the above-described machines have a small inner space, the FDD and the HDD cannot both be used in the portable machines. Accordingly, the portable machines include a separate FDD, which has to be always carried. The separate FDD is generally cumbersome. Accordingly, a PCMCIA card type recording apparatus, which transmits and receives data with a product such as a computer or the like through a PCMCIA port, is used in the product instead of the FDD.
A conventional PCMCIA card type recording apparatus comprises a removable housing that is connected through a PCMCIA port of a product such as a computer or the like, a disk type recording medium held in the housing, a head and a head arm to record or reproduce the data on or from the disk type recording medium, a head driving mechanism to drive the head and the head arm, and a control circuit board. The PCMCIA card type recording apparatus can be used as the FDD or the HDD according to the kind of the disk type recording medium held therein.
However, the conventional PCMCIA card type recording apparatus has the recording medium fixed in the housing. Accordingly, if a memory capacity is running short and an additional capacity is required, the PCMCIA card type recording apparatus itself has to be replaced. The replacement of the PCMCIA card type recording apparatus causes problems in increased cost for replacement and in having to prepare a certain space to keep the replaced recording apparatus.